Word Of The Day: baňdhan

Theme for the Week:
What happens when we are blessed with Naam – the Name of the Divine – the awareness and recognition of the presence and qualities of the Divine?

How does it impact us? How does it help us to transform our lives?

The verses this week, which all come from a single hymn in the Guru Granth Sahib, will enlighten us about the effects and implications of imbibing and living with Naam.

ਬੰਧਨ (baňdhan)
Meaning: noun: Shackles.

Quote:
ਕਰਿ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਦੀਓ ਮੋਹਿ ਨਾਮਾ   ਬੰਧਨ ਤੇ ਛੁਟਕਾਏ॥
kar kirpaa deeo mohi naamaa   baňdhan te chhuṭ-kaae.
The Divine, through His beneficence, has blessed me with Naam and freed me from the shackles of Maya. – Guru Arjan Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib, Page 671

Message: The shackles (traps) of Maya are the world and its snares or the corrupting worldly delights. The shackles that enslave human beings are the greedy pursuit of riches; evil-thoughts; superstitions and illusions; vices, and the fear of death, etc.

The excessive greed for wealth, in its various forms, misleads us all throughout our worldly existence. Worldly attachments and entanglements trap us further in their clutches.

By seeking the sanctuary of Naam or the wisdom of Gurbani, we are freed of all our worldly entanglements; no longer are we weighted down by them. Instead, like an eagle we soar into the sky with our new-found freedom from delusions.

Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a philosopher, writer, and composer, 1712 – 1778

Etymology: From Sanskrit bandhan (tying, bond, tether) → Pali bandhan (bond, fetter) → Prakrit baṁdhaṇ(bond, imprisonment) → Sindhi bandhaṇu(halter), Punjabi bandhaṇ(fastening).